Prefabricated cubic units for small houses



April 26, 1938. K. H. BRUNNER 2,115,615

P REFABRIGATED CUBIC'UNITS FOR SMALL. HOUSES Filed June 17, 1936 3Sheets-Sheet l Apr-i126, 1938. K. H. BRUNNER 2,115,615

PREFABRICATED CUBIC UNITS FOR SMALL HOUSES 'l Filed June 1'7, 1936 5Sheets-Sheet Q2 Hlm/g- H. BRUN/vm V53M WMM' SLW@ @HMM/w" Aprilze, 1938.I KHBRUNNER 2,115,615`

PREFABRICATED VCUBIC UNITS FOR SMALL HOUSES Filed Junel 17, 193e ssheets-sheet 3 [iq/QL H. ERL/NNE@ Patented Apr. 26, 193s y v l 2,115,615

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PREFABRICATED oUIc UNITS Foa SMALL HOUSESKarl H. Brunner, Bogota, Colombia Application June 17, 1936, Serial No.85,805 J 1 2 Claims. (Cl. 20-1) The present invention relates toimprovements tion block assembly employed in the structure inprefabricated cubic units for small houses of Figures 1 and 2,

and has for an object to accomplish prefabrica- Figure 5 is aperspective view showing the rst tion of a house to such an extent thatthe comstep in the process of building up the house 5 pletion of thehouse requires only the building shown in Figures 1 and 2 from theunits. 5

of a foundation, assembly of the units and mak- Figure 6 is afragmentary detail of the hinged o ing the usual connections with gas,water etc. l roof structure of one of the units shown in Fig- Anotherobject is to provide building units ures 1 and 2, which are readilytransportable and easily and Figure 'I is a fragmentary detail of themancheaplyassembled and disassembled. t ner of Joining the hinged roofsections of two 10 A further object is the provision of building suchunits as shown in Figures-5 and 6, units which may be assembled withoutthe usel Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of of cranes and thelike. the peak joint of the roof shown in Figure "l,

Another object is the possibility of enlarging Figure 9 is a detail viewof the insulating joint 15. a completed house by the addition ofvfurther employedinconnecting walls of the several units,

units; or modification of the existing plan of showing the partsdisjoined,

a set of assembled units. Figure l0 is a detail view of the parts ofFig- Another object is to allow the building of a ure 9 with the Jointmade, v prefabricated house which has lhitherto unat- Figure 11 is adetail view of a modified dovetainable architectural beauty. tail jointwith parts disjoined, 20

Further objects include building the units to Figure 12 is a detail viewof the parts of Figconform with the gauge of railroads to facilitate ure11 joined and showing the dove-tail filled rail transportation of theunits over` long diswith a sealing substance, tances; reducing the costof housing by'increas- Figure 13 is a floor plan of a modified house ingthe amount of factory work and decreasing structure incorporatingadditional building units, 25

the amount of work at the building site; the and l l possibility ofassembling the units in any kind Figure 14 is a roof plan of a furthermodificaof weather; the use of a roof structure which tion incorporatingstill more building units. reduces the height of the unit While it isbeing Referring nOW t0 the drawings und Particutransported; assemblingthe units with an inlurly 110`F1gure 1, the hOuSe here Shown is com- 30sulating joint between abutting walls; eliminat- DOSed 0f W10 L-Shapedunits 20, 2l and a recing in large measure overlap of walls whichretangular unit 22- The l-,sheped units are placed suits in great wasteof material and is not neceswith their longer Sides abutting While therecsary; the possibility of placing a readily transtangular unit 22 isplaced against the Shorter portable house on a rented lot which is ofpar.. sides thereof. `35 ticular value .in communities where land is ofAS Will be Seen by reference t0 Figure 5 the very high price; andproviding a. house with L-Shaped unit 20 is a completely prefabricatedthe above features with distributing characterbuilding unit. Theframework may be either istics similar to those of other factory builtprod- Steel 01 WOOd and the Walls of any suitable mauctsl Suchv asautomobiles. y y terlal. AS the units are built at the factory they 40With the foregoing and other Objects in View' are complete with iloors,windows, doors etc. the invention will be more fully described here- Thewalls of the umts are dlsposed as Show@ in inafter.` and will be moreparticularly pointed Figures 2 gud? to prevent needless ovrlappmg om.,in the claims appended hereta With this m view the wall 23 of the unit20 ends i so as to register with the wall 24 of the unit'I 22. 45 In thedrawings wherein like symbols refer The inner wall 25 of the unit 20ends against to like or corresponding parts throughout the the side ofthe inner Wan 25' of the ,mit several Views" There is then nooverlapping or waste of wall Figure 1 is a perspective view of one formof Structure and the abutting Walls may be se hou. assempled from threeof the bundilg umts cured together by any desirable form of boit or 50Fleur? 2 1S e Section teken 0n the-11H8 2--2 the like. Likewise, theouter wan 21 of the unit 0f tile Figure 1, 2| abuts the end' wall 28 ofthe unit 22. The Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view 0f the units inner wan2s of the una 2| is provided with just used 1n Figure 2 Showing themdisassembled, sulcient length to complete the end of a room Figure 4 isa perspective view of the founda- 30 and to hold a door 3l opening intosaid room. 55

A post 28' supports open corner oi' the unit 2|.

At the joints between these a sealing Joint which consists incorresponding grooves in the abutting walls between which is placed`ttsealing member. Figures 9 and 10 show the Joint so made between thewall 28 of the` unit 22 and the end of the wall 21 of the unit 2|.Corresponding vertical grooves 22 and 82 are iet into the abutting edgesof the respective walls. A compressible block 24, of rubber or the like,is ntted into these grooves. When the Joint is tightened in `assemblingthe unita the block I4 is crushed to i111 the two grooves completely asshown in Figure 10 thus making a perfect insulating Joint between thewalls 21 and 28. B imilar Joints are 'provided at each of. theconnecting Joints of the house.

Referring now to Figure 6, the unit 22 is' shown with its roof incarrying position. 'Ihe roof structure consists in the transverse brace85 between outer wall 86 and the inner wall 28 of the unit, the verticalsupport 21 which rests on the transverse brace 25 I8 which extends thelength of the unit and is supported by the vertical members 31. A nxedroof side '38 is held between the block 48 of the wall 86 and thelongitudinal rib 88 by a series of braces 4| which are secured at theiropposite ends to the block 40 and the rib 88. The upper end of the'brace 4I is provided with pivot 42 for a second roof section 42. Thissection 48 rests on the braces 44 which are pivoted at 42 with the iixedbraces 4|. The outer end of the movable roof section43 is reinforced bymeans of an angle bar 45 which in the folded lposition shown in Figure 6rests on'the top of the inner wall 26 of the unit. 'The roof sectionshave at their pivot point a joint which consists in the cut away section46 of the fixed roof and the corresponding overlapping section 41 of themovable roof. As shown in Figure 7, when this movable roof section 43 israised an overlapping Joint is formed above the pivot. It will also beseen that a substantial portion of the height of the building unit isremoved by-folding down this movable" roof section. This is highlyconvenient in transporting the units to the building site. When theunits are placed in position for an assembly the movable roof sectionsof the abutting units are raised. When the wall joints are completedthese roof sections will rest against one another and will be preventedby their length from returning to the folded position. As shown inFigures 7 and 8 the angle bars 45 and 48 come together and may beanchored in this position if desired. In addition to this the edges ofthe roof sections are bevelled and their upper surfaces provided withthe corresponding angular locking strips 49 and 50. Over these lockingstrips when the units are fastened together is placed a peak cap i whicheifectively seals the peak joint of the roof. The twor abutting sectionsnow provide an A roof. When the movable sections of the roof are raisedthere will be left between the two units a diamond shaped space which,is filled in by a similar shaped insert 52 which completes the walls ofthe units. This structure of roof is best carried out by the employmentof sheet metal as a roof covering.

When a definite house plan has beenadopted and the units obtained aseries of foundation blocks 52 are erected or built on the site, asshown in Figure 4. 'I'he arrangement of these blocks 52 is such thatthere will be provided between the blocks passageways into which a andthe longitudinal rib` arrangement of the rooms contained.

truckorlorryllmay centers theunit above the foundation blocks when aseries of Jacks or the like are placed bels neath theoverhtnging edgesof the unit to raise the same and permit the truck to be moved out ofthe way, after which the jacks are lowered and the unit settled on thefoundation Vblocks 52'.

way on the truck into the passageway 55 and placed with its long sideabutting that of the unit 28. The insulating joints will be completed ofthis unit.is provided with a door 58 which in this assembly forms .theentrance door of the The hall 58 then serves the addition of the unit 65and 65 may be accommay readily be varied as to the number. size and Inorder to renderthe addition of further units simple, each in forming ajoint with a new unit.

With reference to this problem of the sealing joint a modied form `ofjoint is shown in Figorthe like' which completely seals the joint. Incase of disassemblyof the units the plaster may be sawed very readily tobreak the joint.

Another feature contemplated by the present invention relates to thedisposition of all rooms required to beeconnected to water, gas, drainsand the like within a single one of these building 7 unit 22 is thendriven 15 alsv n n ananas units.' In the-house` structure shown inFigure 2 connection. The internal .piping and connections may all becompleted at the factory before ship` ping units. Of course it will beseen that the wall 28 is common to some of the rooms in the other unitsand so, if desired, water and other connections may be carried into theother units to be supplied through the unit 22. The. furnace rooml 'i5is located in the unit 22 which may be designated as the service unit.VThe heat provided is preferably, for the small house shown, a warm airsystem in which ducts from the room 'l5 may carry'the warmed air intothe other units. The room 15 has built into it the flue 16 and after theroof is attached to the neighboring unit the chimney 11 is placed inposition and connected with the flue.

The above described structure then carries out all of the objectsstated. All of the Work on the units may be completed at s'ome centralfactory where modern assembly methods will serve to reduce to a minimumthe cost of building. At this factory the units will be completelyfinished as to floors, doors, windows, and fixtures. It is onlynecessary then to set the foundation blocks 52 in the positions suitedto the layout of the units, set units thereon, make the joints betweenthem, and complete outside connections.- It will readily be seen thatall this may be accomplished within a few hours.

The units are made of such width that they may be carried on standardrail and truck equipment making for ease and quickness in delivery. Alsoin line with facilitating transportation of the units overall height isconsiderably diminished by forming the roof in two hinged sections.

Previous prefabricated houses have had to be of unconventional designand therefore lack a` very important element of appeal to prospectivepurchasers. The houses from the above described units have slantedroofs, and are not mere boxes but have graceful lines and readily adaptthemselves to many interesting modifications in design.

Such building units as these may readily 'be exhibited and sold andvarious types kept in stock in every city, so that once it is decided tochange the house structure, by enlarging or modifying, this change maybe made in a very short time. It is also quite feasible when it isdesired to move from one location to another to dismantle the house andcarry it to the new site. This feature is also of a great deal ofimportance in localities Where land is very expensive, as the house maybe placed upon a rented lot-and moved from one lot to another whennecessary.

Of course, if desirable, the units may be arranged end to end instead ofabutting sideways and in such a case the small A roof over each unitwould be the permanent roof. the A in such a case may both be hinged atthe sides of the unit to fold over one another for purposes oftransportation.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications 'may be made in.the details of construction and `design of the above specificallydescribed embodiment of this invention without departing from the`spirit thereof, such changesand modications being restricted only bythe scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

The two sides of 1. `A composite building structure, comprisingindependent building units each having a fixed and a movable roofsection, and means for securing lthe movable roof sections of adjacentbuilding 'units together to provide s.- composite roof for the compositebuilding structure, and means vfor sealing the adjoint portions of thebuilding units together "into a composite building structure.

3. A composite building structure, comprising a plurality ofindependently complete building. units having wall openings for registerwith adjacent units in the composite structure and each having acomplete roof with an adjustable portion for relative adjustment withthe adjustable roof portions of adjacent units to provide a compositeroof for the composite building structure.

4. A composite building structure, comprising independent building unitseach having an A roof with one side section thereof hinged at .the peakrelatively to the other side section to swing into substantially theplane thereof, and means for securing the free edges of the hinged roofsections of adjacent units to provide a common roof for the compositebuilding structure.

5. A composite building structure, comprising independent building unitseach having an A roof with one side section thereof hinged at the peakvedges, of the hinged sections abutting when the hinged sections ofadjacent units are raised into the plane of the other section, and a captting over said ilangeslocking the hinged sections together and sealingthe joint therebetween.

7. A composite building structure, comprising independent building unitseach having an A roof with one side thereof hinged at the peakrelatively to the other side section to swing substantially into theplane thereof, the upper surface of one of said sides being cut backfrom the peakfora distance, and the upper surface of said other sideextending over the peak for a distance corresponding to said cut back toprovide an overlapping joint at the hinge between said sides when thesides are swung into a common plane.

B. A composite house structure comprising a number of complete buildingunits, eachunit having a complete A roof one section of which is hingedat thepeak to form with an adjacent unit of similar structure a largerA` roof over the two units.

9. A pair of -prefabricated building units comprising each, a floor,corresponding wall structures to provide inner and outer walls, and aslanting roof structure for each unit adapted to join and form an A roofover the two units and each of said roof structures being in twosections hinged 4together vtransversely to fold down and reduce theheight of the unit for shipping.

10. A pair of building units comprising two separatestructures eachhaving walls and a roof, the walls being complementary to form a largersingle structure when the units are brought together, said roofs beingsecured at an angle other than a right angle to said walls and adaptedwhen the units are brought together to abut at their upper edges to forman A-rooi.' over the two units, said roofs being hinged longitudinallyof the unit to allow the upper side of the roof. to be folded down toreduce the overall height of the unit for shipping.

11. A composite structure comprising one unit having side walls withfiat top edges and end walls with top edges tapering upwardly to acenter higher than the side walls, a xed roof section secured to oneside wall and one side of the tapering top edges of the end walls, amovable roof section hingedly secured to the upper edge of said ilxedroof. section, and a second unit having like side and end walls andfixed and movable roof sections, said units being `placed with themovable roof sections adjacent one another and said roof sections beingswung upwardly on their hinges into the planes of their respective fixedroof sections, and the upper outer edges of said movable rooi' sectionsabutting to roof section hingedly secured to the upper edge o1'. saidfixed roof section, a second unit having like -side and end walls andfixed and movable roof sections, said units being placed with themovable rooi' sections adjacent one another and said roof sections beingswung upwardly on their hinges into the planes of their respective xedrooi' sections, and the upper outer edges oi said movable roof sectionsabutting to complete an A-rcof over the two adjacent units,'and adiamond shaped insert iilling the space at each end of the structurebetweenthe raised movable roof sections and the end Walls oi' the units.

KARL H. BRUNNER.

